


Bending your Way into my Heart

by Soundless_Fate



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Eventual Romance, HBD Victor, Happy Birthday Victor Nikiforov, Happy Ending, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I promise I'll upload the rest as fast as I can, M/M, Originally a oneshot..., Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Build, Water bending, avatar AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9049177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soundless_Fate/pseuds/Soundless_Fate
Summary: “Yes, I love Victor Nikiforov! I-I mean, I don’t know him, so it c-can’t really be love, but since I can’t give it a name I can just express it like that”
 Basically, the Yuri on Ice au nobody asked for, where Victor is a water bender and Yuuri has self-esteem issues due to his non-bender status.I promise that in the end, Victor's birthday will be a huge thing, but bear with me because I didn't manage to finish it on time.Thank you and please enjoy ^^





	

_“Yes, I love Victor Nikiforov! I-I mean, I don’t know him, so it c-can’t really be love, but since I can’t give it a name I can just express it like that”_

Victor finished that misdialed phone call as soon as he could calm the other man’s voice that he hadn’t taken his words the wrong way—enough times for him to stop stuttering—and politely thank him even though he shouldn’t. Hell, Victor was the one who had confused the little kitty’s room with a total stranger and with a weird turn in the conversation his flustered interlocutor ended up apologizing to him after he threw him those odd-ball questions.

A couple of hours ago, in the morning, he thought he had heard Yakov said Yuri’s room was the 1221. While he could have asked his trainer to repeat the number, Victor just wished to lay down and rest. He hated being sick and sound like he had eaten a mouthful of dust. After he woke of god knows how many hours later of his blissful nap, he wanted to talk ( _read: nag_ ) someone. So, he dialed the forever mad Yuri’s room number.

After realizing he hadn’t Yuri, Victor asked the other man why he was in this hotel, just for the sake of a conversation. Mysterious voice replied that he had come to see the figure skaters. Victor sensed his enthusiasm and encouraged him with some _"hmm"_ s and _“I see”_ s here and there until after rambling 5 minutes about each of the competitors’ fortes, Victor’s name popped up in the conversation.

“And best of all is that Victor Nikiforov will also participate” finished, a little short-breathed his new faceless acquaintance.

“Victor, huh? Don’t you think he’s getting duller over the years?” Victor’s voice sounded sharper than he intended them to. Nonetheless, Wrong Number didn’t catch that and began an enthusiast explanation fit only for a hardcore fan.

“… and his third gold metal routine was so breathtaking! Especially when he looked so lonely into the camera, as if he wanted his audience not only to see his fragility, but also to embrace it.” He had to give credit to the other man because only Yakov and a few others had caught that part of his routine, beneath the fast tempo and daring jump sequence. Victor leant back in his bed and let the thorough description of a somewhat epic individual who supposedly shared his name lull him. In real life, he wasn’t half as moved as his fan portrayed with his exhilarated descriptions.

He let his ego engulf in that seemingly interminable praise that didn’t made him feel awkward. Sure, his feats on the rink were undoubtedly magnified, but never too far from base. Mysterious voice seems to genuinely grasp all of Victor’s intentions.

His thoughts came to a full stop after he heard the _L_ word, one of the two he hadn’t even pronounced in more than two decades. 

               _“Yes, I love Victor Nikiforov!”_

Victor hadn’t intended to hold that type of conversation 15 minutes ago, he just wanted to whine to the cutest member of their team and hear him explode on the other side of the line for having to put up with his “bull-shit”. When the phone was picked up he started rambling about how boring his day was and how bummed about being sick while there was a friendly competition.

Still, even though he tried to be nonchalant about what just happened, Victor couldn’t quite ignore the slight acceleration of his heartbeat when his self-proclaimed fan told him he loved him.

Of course, Mysterious Voice didn’t know he had talked to Victor, because his voice was hoarse due to his cold which had kept him from practicing—today of all days.

Today. Today was special because professional (and soon-to-be) figure skaters—benders and non-benders—prepared for the annual competition of what could be called the “Republic City” of Russia. Even though there remained traces of the former four nations, the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads didn’t have their frontiers defined. The world today wasn’t divided in nations just because of the elements the population could bend, but by intricate and complex economic, social, and political relations. After many wars and peace treaties, the world came to have the less than two hundred countries that make it today: Russia, Germany, China, Japan, Mexico, Canada, United States, and the list went on and on.

The four nations (and Republic City) were now only found in history books. Still, just as in every country there were certain regions or neighborhoods with particular characteristics, that happened with the elements. As if a sort of Chinatown could be bigger in the States than in Kazakhstan, element-oriented communities flourished more in some countries than others.

In India, the fire-bender community was one of the strongest. Earth benders were more easily found in North Africa and some parts of Australia. To date, air benders were fewer than the others, and could be living anywhere around the globe. Though Victor tried to recall his Geography classes and remembered that Latin America had more air masters. As for water bending, any place with abundant ice and snow could be listed. Therefore, it was and surprise that Russia’s sports teams were flooded with this type of benders.

In figure-skating (or any other artistic sport) being a bender meant that through your body you could capture your element’s essence. The only advantage of being a water bender in this sport is that you could conveniently make your own artisan ice rink to practice if there was enough water and the weather allowed it.

 When Victor was still a toddler, he made a few square meters rink and glided carefree. In the transition from fall to winter, when the snow was soft but could keep its shape, and the cold was bearable with one or two jackets, Victor remembers he skated along a slightly shorter snowman than him.

But back to professional figure-skating, benders were the majority (even this era’s Avatar was one too), but that didn’t mean non-benders didn’t compete. In fact, some were right down tough opponents, just like Christophe Giacometti. Chris had given up on element-oriented routines, and polished the raw and sexual part of his personality to awestruck the judges.

Victor admired how the Swiss had used his non-bender status to his favor. He by no means thought being a bender made him superior in any way than any other person, but couldn’t deny the slight head-start it gave him in portraying his feelings on the ice.

While Victor mindlessly thought about all this, he showered and went to bed wearing only his briefs despite knowing that Yakov would have told him not to be so reckless even though he had a great recovery rate. He went under the soft, heavy blankets and motioned Makacchin to a spot next to him. His clever dog needn’t Victor to repeat the gesture twice before he accommodated himself after circling three times his chosen spot in the cushion. Victor couldn’t help but chuckle at his poodle’s quirk and received a confused look from his brown friend. He turned to his right and turned off the night light stand and looked absentmindedly to the white roof.

_“Love”, right?_

 

 

*

 

 

Yuuri woke up after all the noise Phichit was almost purposefully making. He was about to throw his pillow to his Thai friend. But just a second before the white fluffy object left his hand, the unmerciful sunshine rendered him blind for a couple of seconds and made him change his course of action. Yuuri sank his head in the pillow despite the shuttering sounds of Phichit’s camera.

The morning person who just until a few seconds ago, Yuuri considered to be his best friend uploaded the photos to Instagram and urged him to pack his things. “The check-out is in an hour Yuuri” with a gleefulness in his voice that Yuuri couldn’t understand how someone could muster in the early morni-

“Huh?!? In one hour?!”. Yuuri head straight to their bathroom to collect his toiletries when he saw none. “Already packed them~” said Phichit with a smug smile.

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? The flight is almost in five hours!” reproached Yuuri, all too aware of the mess of his side of the room.

“How do you expect me to do that? You slept like a log!” Phichit temple unconsciously softened before his next words “Besides, you needed to rest after yesterday”.

Right… _yesterday_. The day he made fool of himself in one of the most-attended competitions.

In front of Victor Nikiforov.

Victor—his _life-long_ idol—Nikiforov.

 He couldn’t nail more than half of his jumps, and his step sequence felt stiff for Yuuri, much more so to the judges. And even though it wasn’t an official competition, everyone was on the look to see if there were any new promising competitors for next year’s Grand Prix.

Neither the judges or the public had high expectations for a Japanese non-bender skater. He couldn’t blame them, he didn’t understand the depth and complexity of neither of the elements, and was limited to poor imitations of actual Masters. His movements carried a similar flow as water-benders inborn fluidity. Since Yuuri lived in the Water Tribe part of Kyushu, it was the element he was the most comfortable with. Even more so after he came to know (from his also non-bender friend Yuuko) Victor Nikiforov’s glory on the ice.

And now he had to excruciatingly live knowing that the one time his life-long idol had seen him skate, it was an utter mess. His week was an utter mess. _He_ was an utter mess. Since the moment he almost lost his flight to Russia, Yuuri had foreseen that this wasn’t going to be a good trip. On the first day, he couldn’t see Victor due to his cold. He had professed his undying obsession to a stranger over the phone. He had gained weight despite all the exercise he did because he hadn’t kept track of all the (delicious) pirozhkis. He had to buy a charger because he had forgotten to pack his. The only memorable thing about the banquet was its pricey liquor and not the companionship of his fellow skaters that he almost never got to see together apart from official competitions. And above all, falling not _one_ , but _two_ times in front he the Russian man he always saw in his room in every one of the dozens of posters he had.

Yuuri just wanted to dig a hole and die.

And to make things worse, Victor offered him to take a picture together just before he headed to the airport, and that was Yuuri’s limit. Now, in the boarding area, he regrets walking away, but his idol gesture was probably only offered out of pity after seeing his performance.

 

 

*

 

 

It had been some months after that friendly competition. Victor’s memories about the event had blurred for he hadn’t seen something especially eye-catching. Likewise, he barely remembered his unplanned phone call, but the love he felt for his fans had increased due to it.

Practice finished like always, Yakov complaining about his poor attitude, Yuri bickering him to start thinking about his debut choreography, Mila laughing her guts off when said blond started coughing apparently due to his anger rampage.

In his department, he laid in his sofa and chastised himself for always forgetting to but new cushions. The ones he had now weren’t uncomfortable or anything, but they weren’t _homey_ , or cozy for the like. Actually, excluding Makacchin’s stuff, Victor hadn’t changed any of the original furniture with which he had bought his place. The color palette consisted of greyish blues and sober browns. A design fit for an add or magazine, but not your image of _home_.

Victor took his phone and was surprised by the sheer number of notifications he had from multiple apps about some video. He had seen plenty skaters copy his routines, and always felt flattered, but never impressed.

However, he always held up hope that the next one would make him agape.

That day Victor’s hopes were surpassed.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Xmas! But more importantly, Happy Birthday Victor!!! 
> 
> Originally this was going to be a super long oneshot of +10,000~15,000 words, but due to the joy of being able to sleep 14 hours straight after finals I couldn't finish it U^^.  
> I know nothing really Victuuri has happened yet, but I promise that from the next chapter on it will be full of our favorite figure skating ship (as well as OtaYuri, and Phichit).
> 
> If you could give me your thoughts with kudos or (better yet) comments it would mean the world to me. It's the first time I actually dared to post anything online, so it would really motivate me.
> 
> Also, you can congratulate Victor for his 28th birthday in the comments and share the christmassy joy with me ^^


End file.
